Starbucks 3 Damansara — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

Gotta resort to writing a review after a recent incident that was poorly handled.

I’m gonna be straightforward because being consistently nice to people who take advantage of niceness and ruin the peace means you have to stop being nice and patient with them because they think it’s an invitation to overstep boundaries.

Casually asked a barista one afternoon if there were any problems I should know about because I had been picking up some “kurang ajar” vibes from certain employees. Not a rare occurrence or anything.

Most customers know to just ignore eye rolls, annoyed sighs when you come by as though you had showed up at a barista’s house and forced them to make you coffee and not at the cafe they work at while handing them money, etc.

Danish had slowly asked, “Oh, tadi eh?” as though he knew what a few of his co-workers on shift are capable of. If I had to guess it's because they’re protective of his feelings or something. Or mungkin sebab many Malays are boycotting Starbucks due to an international conflict they have no influence over but think they do, and it's affecting business. No one's gonna be honest, so who cares what the reason is. I asked "just in general" and left shortly after.

Shafiqah and A’an approached me the next time I was there, minding my business. They were defensive, claiming it was a "misunderstanding" while trying to make it seem like I was the one with a problem, whining that I had gotten them in trouble with the store manager.

Went by a few days later to see if the store manager was around but he wasn't.

Customers don’t owe you anything. If you want to get something off your chest, you should approach the customer so everyone understands each other properly instead of dragging someone into a situation they don't know how to respond to. A peace talk is the better option.

Add to the fact that budak budak Melayu sekarang can’t take criticism. You're not a little baby anymore. I had asked a simple "Ada problem ke?" and they got upset.

Next time, have someone in charge handle the situation because having regular staff, who literally ran over, which is an admission of wrongdoing to begin with, and were confrontational while simultaneously denying they had done anything, is an inappropriate way to handle things. Best not to gaslight customers, even if that’s considered normal in M’sian culture. Not everyone subscribes to that narcissistic bs, so don’t get angry and defensive if someone is trying to enforce boundaries.

If you’re wrong, you’re wrong. Own up to it, apologize macam orang yang beradab, case closed.

Eg: If a customer asks if a drink is no longer available, you can say it’s not -- I won't cry -- instead of responding like you’re trying to be both funny and rude.

If a customer orders a grande iced caramel macchiato the next time she comes in, responding with a condescending and flippant, “Rock salted dah takde dah!” makes you sound like you have poor listening comprehension, dik. Sebab you're hearing what you want to hear and denying or changing people’s words because you need an opportunity to say something that doesn’t correspond with reality.

It is funny, though, that Starbucks re-introduced the drink about a week later, but my money is now being spent elsewhere.

Even with the good customer service I’ve generally received at this location these past two years and ones I’ve ignored, this relationship has ended with a 1 star because I now have to look for a new secret hideout spot where I can be alone and in peace, and that’s hard to do in KL. Hopefully other regulars here won’t have to deal with this type of behavior.

Palestinians want to live in peace, and so do some of us Malays, man. Only Satan hates peace, and tries to ruin it for other people. Don’t be like Satan. Be on the side of peace.

All the best to the...

Yesterday's experience at the 3 Damansara Starbucks was nothing short of a time-wasting ordeal. I placed a mobile order for self-pickup, as indicated, and arrived promptly 15 minutes later, adhering to the app's estimated preparation time. What I encountered was a counter staff who seemed utterly oblivious to my order. Only after I presented my digital receipt did she bother to check their computer, finally discovering my order and then beginning to prepare my drinks.

When I inquired about the delay and whether there was a system notification issue, I was met with a flippant response: 'Our system is always like this. We don't get notified of online orders.' Excuse me? If your system is perpetually dysfunctional, why offer a self-pickup option at all? Particularly in a location like 3 Damansara, where parking is a notorious challenge during peak hours. Expecting customers to navigate mall traffic and parking just to wait again at the counter is utterly inconsiderate.

The entire point of mobile ordering is convenience and efficiency. It's supposed to save time, not create additional delays. Is Starbucks planning to address this systemic issue? Or, at the very least, post a clear notice that self-pickup orders are unreliable? Valuing customers' time seems to be a foreign concept at this outlet. If you can't provide the service you advertise, perhaps you shouldn't...

It wasn't that busy but it did take a while to be served and even longer for our order to arrive. Unfortunately by the time the food arrived, my boys only had a 10 minute window to eat it and drink their drinks before our movie started, so they had to store their food in the car and eat it once we got home...at 2 a.m! . My daughter couldn't finish her food as it tasted like antiseptic.

Certainly not an enjoyable experience at this outlet and it makes you wonder what it's like when it's busy.

However, we hadn't gone to Tropicana for the food and drink; it was for the new Spiderman movie which fortunately made us forget our poor experience...